This person is too strong but insists on eating the empress' soft rice

Chapter 104 Cai Yongxin

"Your Majesty, the price increase is not what I want. The price of items is determined by the market. The reason why the price of paper has increased is because of the shortage in the market."

When Cai Yongxin said this, he also looked quite helpless.

Obviously their Cai family has benefited enormously from every paper price increase, but at this time they acted as if their Cai family were also victims.

Luo Hongyan felt a little unhappy.

She looked at Cai Yongxin at the bottom coldly and said, "Then why Patriarch Cai came to see me today?"

"I'm ugly. If you want to raise and lower taxes, don't think about it. The taxes are too low to be lowered."

Luo Hongyan's attitude is very firm, she will never succumb to the monopoly of the Cai family again.

What's more, now she has the support of Ye Chen's new papermaking technology.

Cai Yongxin was not scared off by Luo Hongyan's blow to the head, but he said calmly.

"Your Majesty, can this old man sit down and talk? My back hurts."

His posture did not show any humility in front of Luo Hongyan.

It was obvious that the other party felt that he had this attitude because he was determined to win the beauty.

Luo Hongyan's eyes were slightly cold, and the old man made it clear that he was deliberately finding fault.

He is already in the realm of the god king, and he actually said that his back hurts?

After sitting down, Cai Yongxin's attitude became even more arrogant.

His arrogance is hidden in his bones, it's not too ostentatious, but it's enough for people to see clearly.

"Your Majesty, paper is meant to be used by scholars all over the world. Its existence can cultivate many talents for the dynasty."

"The old man thinks that in order to make the world more popular, the tax on paper can be reduced by half again. It is reasonable to not collect tax on such a thing that is beneficial to the court."

What Cai Yongxin said is clear and logical.

And his attitude was very firm, as if he was not discussing with Luo Hongyan, but came to inform her.

"Your Majesty, now that the national treasury is full, shouldn't you take care of the world's literati and students?"

Cai Yongxin is confident, he is confident that he can handle Luo Hongyan to death.

At this time, Luo Hongyan no longer hid her displeasure.

Her eyebrows were furrowed tightly.

You should know that the initial paper tax rate is 20.00%.

Four years ago, under pressure from the Cai family, Luo Hongyan lowered the paper tax rate to [-]%.

At that time, Luo Hongyan had no choice but to agree to the unreasonable demands of the Cai family.

And since this period of time, none of the raw materials used in papermaking have experienced price increases.

It also means that the reduced tax rates have all turned into real money and fell into the pockets of paper-making families like the Cai family.

This kind of preferential treatment is already extremely powerful. I never imagined that the paper-making family headed by the Cai family would actually want to halve the tax rate again!

Luo Hongyan looked at the confident Cai Yongxin below, she said firmly.

"Patriarch Cai, I have already said that the tax rate cannot be lowered."

"If the Cai family is willing to lower the price of paper, everything will be fine, otherwise it will be too late after I take action."

"I hope Patriarch Cai will not forget what happened to the major grain merchants some time ago."

Luo Hongyan felt that it was still necessary to mention Patriarch Cai.

However, Luo Hongyan's words were not heard by Cai Yongxin at all.

Instead, he said even more arrogantly: "Your Majesty, don't blame the old man for not reminding me. Your Majesty should reduce the tax rate to 5.00% within three days."

"If there is no response within three days, then please His Majesty reduce it to [-]%. By the way, if there is no response within ten days, then Your Majesty is ready to erase the paper tax."

Cai Yongxin's words can no longer be described as arrogant.

It can even be said that this guy is too arrogant.

And the reason why he was so arrogant was because he was sure that there was absolutely no way for Luo Hongyan to deal with it.

After all, the Royal Paper Mill simply did not have the ability to make quality paper.

Moreover, their Cai family is so powerful that it cannot be moved by the court.

"Your Majesty, don't forget what the old man said just now. I hope Your Majesty will be content. The tax rate of 5.00% is not bad."

After speaking, Cai Yongxin left on his own.

Luo Hongyan looked at the old guy's back, her chest heaving with anger.

She thought that the Cai family might force her to lower the tax rate, but she didn't expect the other party to be so arrogant, as if they had already decided on her.

After Cai Yongxin left, Ye Chen walked out.

He also frowned and asked: "Hong Yan, did the Cai family have this attitude before?"

Luo Hongyan shook her head: "Four years ago, they were even worse. At that time, my throne was still unstable, so they were unscrupulous."

"If the Cai family hadn't known that the treasury was empty at that time, I'm afraid their demands would have been even more excessive. The reason for the change this time is probably because they saw that there was a lot of surplus in the treasury, so they were eager to move."

Ye Chen nodded, and then asked: "Hong Yan, with such a bad attitude from the Cai family, you never thought of using force to intervene?"

Luo Hongyan shook her head: "Things are not that simple. The Cai family has been passed down for such a long time, and their power has penetrated into many layers. It can be said that it is intertwined and difficult to remove."

Ye Chen gradually became worried as he listened.

Because according to what Luo Hongyan said, in order to win over the Cai family, the royal family even married some members of the royal family to the Cai family.

Ye Chen knew that looking at it now, the Cai family's status could only be shaken through normal business competition.

Then he asked: "Hong Yan, since this is the case, how about giving the Cai family a gift and erasing the paper tax for them?"

Luo Hongyan couldn't react to Ye Chen's words.

"Ye Chen, are you giving advice to me, or to the Cai family?"

Facing Luo Hongyan who was in a bad mood, Ye Chen patiently explained.

"Listen to me, Hongyan, the Cai family has got such a big advantage, so it's reasonable to ask them to pay something?"

After hearing Ye Chen's words, Luo Hongyan didn't continue to be angry, but asked a little strangely.

"What benefits do you want from the Cai family?"

Ye Chen smiled lightly: "For example, let the Cai family hand over some paper mills to the royal family, will they agree?"

After Ye Chen said this, Luo Hongyan immediately understood his idea.

"Ye Chen, I will call Patriarch Cai over to talk about it tomorrow. Your idea is very good!"

Luo Hongyan is not stupid. It is true that the royal family has a paper mill now, but it is not used all year round, not to mention the aging equipment, and the production capacity is insufficient.

But if the Cai family is willing to give up part of the paper mill, the situation will be greatly improved.

As for the tax rate, it is hard to say whether the Cai family will be able to sell the paper by then.

(End of this chapter)